Tips

The Complete Guide to Scout’s tips and advice for FPL Gameweek 9

Welcome to the Fantasy Football Scout Guide to Gameweek 9, and for once a standard Saturday deadline of 11:00 GMT.

To say it’s been a rollercoaster of an international break would be an understatement. Injuries coupled with coronavirus (COVID-19) is not a pleasant cocktail for Fantasy managers. Whatsmore, we are approaching a crossroads in the season with fixture swings encouraging many to play their Wildcards.

To help you with your crucial transfer and armband decisions, this Gameweek Guide will summarise the latest news from a turbulent couple of weeks.

The all-important Team News: Neale brought us the latest in his two round-up articles; one from Friday’s press conferences and one from Thursday’s. Further details can be found in his notes on each club along with his Predicted Line-ups.

Neale has also put together a comprehensive list of minutes played over the international break, along with the journeys undertaken by those playing abroad. Brazilian Thiago Silva (£5.5m) looks set to miss Gameweek 9 as a result of his late return.

Sell Salah?

The most expensive player in FPL contracted COVID-19 during the international break, leaving owners in quandary. For Career Hall of Fame No 1, Fábio Borges, the decision to sell or keep will partly depend on how long Mohamed Salah (£12.3m) is ruled out for:

I seriously doubt It’s worth to sell Salah for a hit if he is ruled out for just one Gameweek (which seems the most likely scenario).

– Fábio

The latest from manager Jurgen Klopp suggests everything is in place for Salah to resume training as soon as he tests negative for COVID-19:

Although whether he’ll be ready to face Brighton in Gameweek 10 – Liverpool play at 12:30 GMT on Saturday – is anyone’s guess. And any indication of a longer absence will spark further sales: the Egyptian is already the most-sold player ahead of the deadline.

Sadio Mané (£12.1m) could temp managers as a replacement, Pro Pundit Holly pointed out that the Senegalse has underperformed in recent matches:

Sadio Mané has just one goal in the last four Gameweeks, coming from four big chances. It is unusual for Liverpool’s winger to be so poor in his conversions and you would expect a big improvement going forward.

– Holly

However Holly does mention that Salah is superior for shots, shots on target and shots inside the box – almost doubling Mané’s tallies across the board. So when fit, the Egyptian would appear the better option.

Moving to Manchester

Some managers may consider moving early on Kevin De Bruyne (£11.5m) while Bruno Fernandes (£10.6m) currently tops this week’s captain poll. 

Both Manchester clubs feature in the ‘strong’ section of teams with the best upcoming fixtures.

Getting De Bruyne is perhaps a week too soon given that City travel to Tottenham Hotspur, although many on Wildcards are including the Belgian in their XV’s. But following their trip to London, Pep’s troops enjoy an excellent run starting with home matches against Burnley in Gameweek 10 and Fulham in Gameweek 11.

Pro Pundit Az researched De Bruyne’s record against the relegated teams last season:

In the four games he played against the last season’s doomed teams, De Bruyne produced three goals and four assists. A great return. City won all of these encounters convincingly, with the 8-0 rout at home to Watford probably their highlight of the campaign.

– Az

As our Tom Selleck look alike then pointed out, Fulham and West Brom (City’s opponents in Gameweek 13) are yet to keep a shut-out on the road, displaying some mid-table defensive statistics. They appear ripe for Manchester City to rediscover their attacking mojo – and chief creator De Bruyne will doubtless be involved.

But facing West Brom this Gameweek has made Bruno Fernandes the most-bought player, with just under 700,000 acquiring the Portuguese at the time of writing.  

Fernandes currently sits in both the Wildcard teams of Pro Pundit Zophar and Simon March.

Over the course of the season, Fernandes is joint second with De Bruyne for chances created (20). And form is on his side, as moustachioed Az revealed:

What is interesting here is that despite creating the same number of chances as De Bruyne, Fernandes has fashioned the majority of chances for players in the last two games (12), putting up just eight opportunities in the six games prior to this weekend. 

This suggests that Fernandes is growing in importance in the United attack and we could see him becoming even more instrumental in all the good things that the Red Devils do in the coming weeks.

– Az

But there are other options to consider from Ole Gunnar Solskjær’s team, Marcus Rashford (£9.6m) has caught the attention of both Holly and Lateriser:

Marcus Rashford has had 14 shots between Gameweeks 5 and 8, despite delivering just one goal from two big chances. He also ranks highly for shots on target (six) and shots in the box (eight): he should present an intriguing option as Manchester United finally find some form.

– Holly

While Lateriser looked to a tactical shift that could benefit the FPL midfielder.

With Luke Shaw (£4.9m) out with a hamstring injury, Alex Telles (£5.5m) is set to return to the left-back slot following a bout of illness. This could dampen the prospects for Bruno, as he likely won’t be on all set pieces, and Telles is a lot more attacking which will allow Rashford to make more runs inside.

According to our upside-chasing Pro Pundit, the double pivot used by Manchester United in recent matches makes them better defensively, which in turn means Telles can hold the width on the left. Therefore Rashford is going to be playing further forward than Fernandes and making more central runs.

Both players featured in the Captain Sensible article for Gameweek 9.

But given top billing by Jan Sienkiewicz were Chelsea duo Timo Werner (£9.4m) and Hakim Ziyech (£8.2m).

Werner is included for his goal threat while Ziyech offers assist potential:

Over the last four Gameweeks, only Patrick Bamford (4.22) and Jamie Vardy (2.12) have recorded a superior figure for expected goals (xG) non penalty than Werner (2.08), remembering, of course, that he now takes the spot-kicks too; Since his debut in Gameweek 7 no player has created more big chances than Ziyech, helping him lead the Premier League for expected assists (xA), with a score of 1.10.

– Jan

Our double-points maestro noticed weaknesses in the Newcastle defence that could suit both Chelsea players – they have given up more chances down their right flank than any other side (22), while only Crystal Palace (37) and Sheffield United (33) have conceded more attempts from set plays in 2020/21 than Newcastle (32).

But, as ever in FPL, we are rarely free of all doubt. Describing Newcastle as a “head-scratcher”, Holly pointed out:

They’ve conceded the most goal attempts (74) in the whole Premier League, but are second-lowest for big chances conceded with three. They are frustrating attacks who are then producing low quality attempts.

– Holly

Is this enough to put you off captaining a Chelsea player? Not for “closet Chelsea fanLateriser, who currently has the armband on Werner.

However, there are a number of other armband candidates to consider. One player given just a brief mention in Jan’s article was Dominic Calvert-Lewin (£7.8m).

David, no stranger to captain success himself, highlighted the potential for Everton’s number 9 against a suspect Fulham defence in the Captaincy Video:

In the last four matches Fulham’s expected goals conceded is 6.01, which is the fourth worst in the league – they’ve only actually conceded four goals which means they’re over performing against their xGC: they should have conceded two more goals than they did.

And then if we go into the specifics of where these chances are getting conceded for Fulham, in that period they conceded 14 headed attempts which is actually the joint most in the league. So when you consider what Calvert-Lewin is best at – which is his aerial presence – it does seem like quite a nice matchup.

– David

Quite a nice matchup indeed. Pro Pundit Az went as far as calling Calvert-Lewin the “outstanding captaincy choice this week”.

Value Villains

Top of the season ticker for the next six Gameweeks, Aston Villa not only supply an armband option of their own in the shape of Jack Grealish (£7.5m), but also offer excellent value across their attack.

Picked out by Seb as his differential on the Scoutcast, Ross Barkley (£6.0m) could be an excellent complement to Grealish. The former Evertonian has been posting impressive underlying numbers. Writing in the Scout Notes for the Villa’s win over Arsenal David noted:

Barkley is putting that advanced presence to good use too. In the last four matches, no Premier League player has played more key passes than him.

– David

Pro Pundit Fábio Borges is even considering an attacking triple up, having added Ollie Watkins (£6.1m) over the international break to join Grealish in his squad.

Zophar debated Watkins v Patrick Bamford (£6.1m) on his Wildcard, favouring the Villa player given the fixtures. 

However, speaking on the FPL Wire, Lateriser questioned whether fixtures mattered for Bamford given that his impressive stats were put together despite playing against Manchester City and Liverpool. He suggested Bamford could be the better long term option. 

Comparing Bamford to Watkins and Che Adams (£5.9m), Holly explained what all the fuss is about:

Delving into the underlying statistics, Bamford is top among all players for big chances (seven) [over the last four Gameweeks] … He’s also the most impressive of the trio in terms of shots (18), shots on target (eight) and shots inside the box (16), posting the leading tallies of any player once again.

– Holly

With so many good players pushing for a place in our teams, sacrifices will have to be made. As Sam Bonfield concluded in her latest piece:

It is impossible to own everyone – but it is possible to set your team to return as many potential FPL points as possible by carefully distributing our FPL budget across the field.

– Sam

Community latest

For those interested in the Head-to-Head Leagues, the main page can be linked to here. The fixtures for Gameweek 9 can be found below:

Use the drop-down menus to show your league and division. To find out which league and division you are in, follow the instructions on the main Head-to-Head page.

Once the Gameweek starts, if you click on your opponent’s name you will be linked to their team on the FPL website.

Finally, a quick heads up that the Gameweek 10 deadline is on Friday next week. 

And may your arrows be green!

TopMarx Fan of Fantasy Football and Monty Python. "Archimedes out to Socrates, Socrates back to Archimedes, Archimedes out to Heraclitus, he beats Hegel. Heraclitus a little flick, here he comes on the far post, Socrates is there, Socrates heads it in! Socrates has scored! The Greeks are going mad, the Greeks are going mad! Socrates scores, got a beautiful cross from Archimedes. The Germans are disputing it. Hegel is arguing that the reality is merely an a priori adjunct of non-naturalistic ethics, Kant via the categorical imperative is holding that ontologically it exists only in the imagination, and Marx is claiming it was offside. Follow them on Twitter

2,161 Comments Post a Comment
  1. Ci Siamo
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Is Rashford captaincy too much of a risk when I could go Hamez (c)?

    1. tafrère
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Rashford is a risk. But Hamez is a risk too imo.

    2. Vazza
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Have Rashford as captain and Hamez vice

  2. Vazza
    • 3 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    From next week, would Bruno really be worth 1.0m more than Rashford?

    1. tafrère
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Bruno should be 11.5 and Rashford should be 8.5 so yeah.

      1. The Senate
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 4 months ago

        This

    2. Phil's Stamps
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Nah

  3. Nightcrawler
    • 4 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    WHAT DO WE MAKE OF THIS team???

    Martinez

    Chilwell Creswell Kilman

    Ziyech KDB Bruno Grealish

    Werner Kane DCL

    1. waltzingmatildas
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Decent

    2. The Senate
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Kilman and Werner the weak points but yes it’s good

      1. Forgetmeknot
        • 5 Years
        3 years, 4 months ago

        What’s the thinking on Werner being a weak point?

        1. The Senate
          • 5 Years
          3 years, 4 months ago

          Just think there’s better value options in both Forwards and Chelsea players in the long term

          1. Forgetmeknot
            • 5 Years
            3 years, 4 months ago

            Fair does, I think he will score well but that’s the beauty of the game I guess!

    3. diesel001
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Good team. Bruno (c)

  4. jimmy.floyd
    • 7 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    A Play one of Justin, Strujik, Mitchell
    B Get Coufal for a hit and play him

    1. jb1985
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      A. Play Mitchell with Justin first on bench.

  5. Ninjaa
    • 13 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    My wildcard team, think I'm settled. Thoughts please chaps

    McCarthy Forster
    Chilwell Cancelo Lamptey Coufal Targett
    KDB Bruno Ziyech Grealish Reidewald
    Vardy DCL Watkins..

    1. jimmy.floyd
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Gtg

    2. waltzingmatildas
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Nice

    3. Puntillimon
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      It’s very good well done

    4. Vazza
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Good team. How are you intending to bring Salah in?

  6. The Senate
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Anything worth a hit? 1.2ITB, probably WC GW10

    Leno/Steer
    Chilwell Semedo Mitchell*
    Bruno Son Rashford* Grealish
    DCL Watkins Brewster*
    (Justin KWP Salah*)

  7. FPL-Albion
    • 4 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    How on earth did KDB rise last night?
    He was on minus 20 on fix and statistics.
    Was waiting on salah to kdb just in case of any late news!
    Salah didn’t even go down either when at minus 100!!!

    1. tafrère
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Fplstats is less and less reliable.

      1. FPL-Albion
        • 4 Years
        3 years, 4 months ago

        Yeah shocking. It might now price me out of getting salah back

    2. g40steve
      • 6 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      1.3m sales, 46% to 29% ownership, now on -307.5!

    3. jb1985
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      I dont understand this either, clearly rigged for some players.

  8. waltzingmatildas
    • 13 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Last question, please
    Right bench and order?

    Mccarthy
    Chilwell James ctaylor
    Mane Bruno(c) grealish soucek
    Kane DCL Bamford
    (Button ayling mitchell bissouma)

  9. Puntillimon
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Bench one:
    Jota
    KDB

    1. PepSala
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Seriously?

    2. The Senate
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Absolutely not

  10. PepSala
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Bench Lamptey or Podence?

  11. R.C
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Captain in first game, yay or nay?

    Will it end up in tears?

    1. Puntillimon
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      I personally don’t like that. But a 20 pointer will soothe your nerves

  12. Westby37
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Can I have any reassurance on this pls
    Martinez
    Zouma Mings Verstergaard
    Rodriguez Mane Fernandes Ziyech
    Watkins Vardy Calvert Lewis

    1. Puntillimon
      • 8 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      It’s as good as any. Good luck

    2. The Senate
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Good. Defence could do with improving but not urgent

  13. boroie
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Best £4.1m and under defender on WC...

    A - Kilman (I got him at £4m so his value to me is £4.1m)
    B - Neco Williams
    C - Nat Phillips

    1. waltzingmatildas
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      A

    2. Il Capitano
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      A

  14. FPL_DON
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    I’ve been the FPL DON for 6 years and now I see someone has started YouTube channel under my name, not happy Saturdays ruined

    1. Fantasy Gold
      • 9 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Sue them.

  15. Ci Siamo
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Hamez or Richarlison captain?

    1. jb1985
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      I think Richi will be hungry greedy and hungry for goals.

  16. Jet5605
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Is Son > Ziyech worth it? Son could still do damage at home to City

    1. waltzingmatildas
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      For free?

      1. Jet5605
        • 9 Years
        3 years, 4 months ago

        Yes. Team below

        McCarthy
        Chillwell - Taylor - Konsa
        Son - Bruno (c) - Salah - Grealish
        Vardy - DCL - Bamford

        Steer - Soucek - Egan - Mitchell

        1. waltzingmatildas
          • 13 Years
          3 years, 4 months ago

          Hmm I'd hold

    2. Phil's Stamps
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Probably-ish.

  17. Jolly Good
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Son to
    a) Grealish
    b) Ziyech

    Captain
    a) Bruno
    b) Werner

    1. Phil's Stamps
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      ba

    2. waltzingmatildas
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      A A

    3. tafrère
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      aa if you go template.

      bb if you go differential

      ab if you go template but a bit differential

      lmao

  18. Phil's Stamps
    • 13 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Who scores more this week?

    A) Bamford + 4
    B) KDB

    I'm going to be bringing in KDB for Salah for a hit next week anyway, wondering if it makes sense to do it now but means benching Bam-Bam.

    1. tafrère
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      A.

  19. R.C
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Rashford might not be risked as per Manchester Evening News

  20. screamer73
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Start one.
    A) N Williams
    B) Brewster

    1. jb1985
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      A, as if he doesn't start then doubt he will come on. Assume right back slot is a toss up between him and Miller.

  21. drughi
    • 14 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Bruno(C) gonna end in tears

    1. waltzingmatildas
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      You reckon? Who you going with?

    2. The Senate
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Keep telling yourself that...

      1. Ci Siamo
        • 8 Years
        3 years, 4 months ago

        I think the Everton boys

    3. tafrère
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Being too clever going for DCL is like when we all thought we were sooo clever with Duffy (C).

  22. boroie
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    A - Martinez & Kilman
    B - McCarthy & Targett

    1. Phil's Stamps
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      B

    2. Il Capitano
      • 3 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      B

    3. waltzingmatildas
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      B

  23. Better luck next year
    • 4 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Any transfers worth a -4 here?

    3.3 ITB

    Martinez
    Chilwell Reguilon Saiss
    Bruno (C) Son Ziyech Zaha Podence
    DCL Jimi

    Nyland Brewster Mitchell TAA*.

  24. boroie
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    A - Ziyech
    B - James Rod

    1. jb1985
      • 5 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      A - if your keeping long term
      B - if you just want to cover a few weeks

    2. Phil's Stamps
      • 13 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      A but get both if you can.

  25. boroie
    • 5 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Any news on how long Trent is out for?

  26. Nesvy
    • 9 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Better choice ?

    a/ TAA > Cresswell (-4)
    b/ play Dallas
    c/ play Mitchell

    Thanks

  27. g40steve
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Captain & bench order correct?

    Martinez,
    Coufal, Chilwell, Zouma
    Grealish, Bruno, Zaha, Son
    DCL C, Kane, Bamford

    Forster, Lamptey, Robbo, Podence

    2.2 bank

  28. R.C
    • 6 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Any chance Mane plays as a striker?

    1. tafrère
      • 7 Years
      3 years, 4 months ago

      Why would he ?

  29. smix
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    Play Foden or move to Jota for a hit ?

  30. C_G
    • 8 Years
    3 years, 4 months ago

    am i GTG?? WC Final! 1.9 ITB

    Martinez

    Chilwell Cresswell KWP

    KDB Bruno(C) Ziyech Grealish

    Watkins DCL(VC) Vardy

    Forster Lamptey Kilman Riedwald